E36 Compact Track Car (M52B28 content)
Discussion
NiallSlimDrew said:
Sf_Manta said:
Have to say, quite the pocket rocket of a car, must be quite lively with the lack of weight over the rear wheels.
Any plans for the engine besides M50 manifold conversion? Carpetsoiler on here does some decent work on E36s / M5X series engines. I'm about to send my E46 Touring back up to him for an engine rebuild once some parts arrive.
Look forwards to seeing more updates here
Thank you! It's not been too bad too be honest but it does have its moments, I'm hoping the LSD will sort any traction issues out.Any plans for the engine besides M50 manifold conversion? Carpetsoiler on here does some decent work on E36s / M5X series engines. I'm about to send my E46 Touring back up to him for an engine rebuild once some parts arrive.
Look forwards to seeing more updates here
I want the M3 exhaust manifolds and US spec cams. A friend of mine can do the manifolds for the same price as second hand M3 ones and they will bolt straight on no issues and BDS Performance also make the cams. I'd also like to do the M54 3.0 stroker but it's far down on the list.
Edited by Sf_Manta on Friday 4th December 10:26
Edited by Sf_Manta on Friday 4th December 10:28
Well, after a few years I thought it was about time I updated this!
Its been a rollercoaster but I still have the car. I have a track day booked for the 22nd of May so I plan on getting everything up to date before then.
I might as well start where I left off.
I now owned a LSD for the car, it came from an E30 as these things share the rear end with them.
When it arrived it had a broken part (Whch I've since forgotten the name of so if someone could remind me that would be great!) But its a fairly common part and a new reinforced part was ordered and fitted. I also ordered all new bearings for the diff and fresh oil. The ratio of the LSD was a lot shorter than my standard diff - the current ratios suited the car and my local track so didnt want to go any shorter so my ratios were swapped over.
Car jacked up...
Diff dropped...
Diff covers taken off...
All the new bits laid out...
The broken part...
And the new reinforced part...
All put back together...
I then bought another set of the wheels I already had, 16" BBS RX223 cheap on ebay. My tyres had seen better days and they were too cheap to turn down...
So this was March 2021, I made a career change in the following August which left me with very little free time and that annoyingly meant no track days or anything exciting but I kept the car road legal for a reason so when the time allowed I got out in her in every chance I could so here are some random pictures from them...
I then dropped the off to Ali - my mechanic who has featured a lot in this journey - You may recall I had a reconditioned "purple tag" steering rack fitted to the car, well it was all too much for the aged power steering pump after this and it was making some pretty grumbly noises. He was to replace the power steering pump and weld up a small bit of rust under the car.
This is when things take another sour turn, despite already under an unbearable amount of stress from work, I was disqualified from driving for 6 months for totting up my points. I sold my beloved E90 330d M Sport and the Copmpact just sat in Alis yard as there was "no rush". It was a forgetful time and done my mental health no favours but thats another story...
Fast forward 6 months and the compact still isn't fixed, lots of lots of nudges later, he finishes it off and its returned to me...
Here she is parked next to my "new" daily, an F10 520d (tiny engine and still a £4,000 insurance bill)...
I soon discovered that the F10 BMW is a hateful thing, not just because of the tiny engine mine had but they are built very badly, lots of issues, just not worth it. I recently drove my friends 535d F10 and found it just as boring. To add to all the fun I'd been having in life lately, the F10 rattled itself to death on the motorway one night and then blew a hole in the side of the engine. It was going to cost as much as the car was worth to fit a second hand engine, so it went on eBay and I lost thousands. It has since been replaced with another E90 but of course a 320d due to insurance reasons.
Before the E90 was purchased it meant the Compact was up for daily duties which it handled wonderfully, including a 500 mile round trip to watch the National Banger World Final @ Ipswich then down to Brands Hatch to watch the BTCC finale which is handled faultlessly...
I decided enough was enough and I booked a track day for October 2023, the car was given a once over, a fresh MOT, a service and brand spanking new AD08's were fitted. The day before the track day, it was cancelled due to weather, I was gutted.
And then, as if it couldn't get any bloody worse, this happens a few weeks later...
Soooo...
The car was fitted with a Mishimoto radiator which about 18 months ago had a slight crack in it, the RAC came out armed with some putty and told me it was a "temp" fix. Its only temporary until it breaks again in my head (sarcasm) but I did leave it for a while but it wasnt as issue, it was holding... until now. One of my best friends Jon saw me on the motorway and came to my rescue armed with water, rad weld and putty. We bodged, sorry temporarily fixed it to get me off the motorway and home but on the way home it kept getting hot.
I bumped into my friend Benny (a lot more about him in the next post) who offered assistance and also a lift home when we realised the car just wasn't well enough.
The car went to him and he diagnosed and absolutly shagged radiator, he sourced a replacement and fitted it.
He was more disapointed than me when he delivered the news that the new radiator hadn't solved the issue and without pulling the engine apart, it was safe to say it had got hot one too many times and likely the headgasket was gone.
With these engines having aluminium blocks, taking it apart to find the issue and fix would result in stripped head bolts, so the engine was officially dead.
I refused to show how broken I was mentally and emotionally but it was like a kick in the stomach to say the least.
I had recently left the very high stress job I was in, making myself unemployed, I no longer had the stress of the job but I had no job, no money and very little fight left in me. But I love this stupid little purple car, selling it just wasn't an option, not even on the cards despite selling it being the massively sensible option.
Theres one last peice of the puzzle to bring me up to date, but its a good one, a story of friendship, love and an old BMW.
Thanks for reading...
Its been a rollercoaster but I still have the car. I have a track day booked for the 22nd of May so I plan on getting everything up to date before then.
I might as well start where I left off.
I now owned a LSD for the car, it came from an E30 as these things share the rear end with them.
When it arrived it had a broken part (Whch I've since forgotten the name of so if someone could remind me that would be great!) But its a fairly common part and a new reinforced part was ordered and fitted. I also ordered all new bearings for the diff and fresh oil. The ratio of the LSD was a lot shorter than my standard diff - the current ratios suited the car and my local track so didnt want to go any shorter so my ratios were swapped over.
Car jacked up...
Diff dropped...
Diff covers taken off...
All the new bits laid out...
The broken part...
And the new reinforced part...
All put back together...
I then bought another set of the wheels I already had, 16" BBS RX223 cheap on ebay. My tyres had seen better days and they were too cheap to turn down...
So this was March 2021, I made a career change in the following August which left me with very little free time and that annoyingly meant no track days or anything exciting but I kept the car road legal for a reason so when the time allowed I got out in her in every chance I could so here are some random pictures from them...
I then dropped the off to Ali - my mechanic who has featured a lot in this journey - You may recall I had a reconditioned "purple tag" steering rack fitted to the car, well it was all too much for the aged power steering pump after this and it was making some pretty grumbly noises. He was to replace the power steering pump and weld up a small bit of rust under the car.
This is when things take another sour turn, despite already under an unbearable amount of stress from work, I was disqualified from driving for 6 months for totting up my points. I sold my beloved E90 330d M Sport and the Copmpact just sat in Alis yard as there was "no rush". It was a forgetful time and done my mental health no favours but thats another story...
Fast forward 6 months and the compact still isn't fixed, lots of lots of nudges later, he finishes it off and its returned to me...
Here she is parked next to my "new" daily, an F10 520d (tiny engine and still a £4,000 insurance bill)...
I soon discovered that the F10 BMW is a hateful thing, not just because of the tiny engine mine had but they are built very badly, lots of issues, just not worth it. I recently drove my friends 535d F10 and found it just as boring. To add to all the fun I'd been having in life lately, the F10 rattled itself to death on the motorway one night and then blew a hole in the side of the engine. It was going to cost as much as the car was worth to fit a second hand engine, so it went on eBay and I lost thousands. It has since been replaced with another E90 but of course a 320d due to insurance reasons.
Before the E90 was purchased it meant the Compact was up for daily duties which it handled wonderfully, including a 500 mile round trip to watch the National Banger World Final @ Ipswich then down to Brands Hatch to watch the BTCC finale which is handled faultlessly...
I decided enough was enough and I booked a track day for October 2023, the car was given a once over, a fresh MOT, a service and brand spanking new AD08's were fitted. The day before the track day, it was cancelled due to weather, I was gutted.
And then, as if it couldn't get any bloody worse, this happens a few weeks later...
Soooo...
The car was fitted with a Mishimoto radiator which about 18 months ago had a slight crack in it, the RAC came out armed with some putty and told me it was a "temp" fix. Its only temporary until it breaks again in my head (sarcasm) but I did leave it for a while but it wasnt as issue, it was holding... until now. One of my best friends Jon saw me on the motorway and came to my rescue armed with water, rad weld and putty. We bodged, sorry temporarily fixed it to get me off the motorway and home but on the way home it kept getting hot.
I bumped into my friend Benny (a lot more about him in the next post) who offered assistance and also a lift home when we realised the car just wasn't well enough.
The car went to him and he diagnosed and absolutly shagged radiator, he sourced a replacement and fitted it.
He was more disapointed than me when he delivered the news that the new radiator hadn't solved the issue and without pulling the engine apart, it was safe to say it had got hot one too many times and likely the headgasket was gone.
With these engines having aluminium blocks, taking it apart to find the issue and fix would result in stripped head bolts, so the engine was officially dead.
I refused to show how broken I was mentally and emotionally but it was like a kick in the stomach to say the least.
I had recently left the very high stress job I was in, making myself unemployed, I no longer had the stress of the job but I had no job, no money and very little fight left in me. But I love this stupid little purple car, selling it just wasn't an option, not even on the cards despite selling it being the massively sensible option.
Theres one last peice of the puzzle to bring me up to date, but its a good one, a story of friendship, love and an old BMW.
Thanks for reading...
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